Adjusted vs Unadjusted Returns

Now I understand the difference between Adjusted vs. Unadjusted data but I'm wondering what the position value would be after the dividend and or cap gains.

So I'm interested in particular mutual funds. Lets take FFFAX for example.Many pay out cap gains that make the security look like it lost a large percentage unadjusted.Does the adjusted % performance show the actual performance if the div's were reinvested?While the unadjusted show the performance of the underlying security with div paid out?

And if MarkD gets to this thanks in advance!

Comments

It seems to me the adjusted data allows you to calculate total return, since all prices prior to the current payout are reduced by the amount of the current payout. Therefore, subtracting a past date from the current date would include all the amounts paid out between those dates.

With unadjusted data, the prior prices are actual prices - they do not account for the payout(s), so the subtraction would not show total return.